Freeman and Yilaan were sitting in one of the station's mess halls discussing recent events. Lieutenant Ivanovna was with them, having recuperated sufficiently so that she could actually sit up for extended periods of time without needing to lie down. Lieutenant Reiv was also there, along with Lieutenant O'Shea; the five were seated around a fairly large round table and enjoyed the beverages of their choice as the conversation continued.
At length the subject had turned to the comrades they had lost and a hushed silence fell over the group. Freeman finally broke it with a statement, "The Klingons confirmed that no other ships in the area of the base picked up any of our personnel, so our lists are final as they stand."
"Then the Doctor is really dead," Yilaan said sadly.
Freeman nodded, "By my calculations we lost a total of seven people when the station exploded." After a pause, he added, "I think we should wait with services until we get our ship back."
"Perhaps so," Yilaan replied simply, and the group fell silent again, staring out into space.
A few days went by as the Bristol crew pensively waited for the arrival of their ship. Morale was poor and the crew was short-tempered and restless. There was nothing to distract the crew from thinking of recent events and they weighed heavily upon them.
At last their long awaited hail from the Bristol arrived, and the Bridge crew was the first to be transferred back aboard. The group, consisting of Freeman, Yilaan, Ivanovna, Reiv, were joined by the navigator Ensign Todd, and the third shift duty officer, Lieutenant Zaras. They arrived on the Bridge and exited via the port-aft turbolift; there were two people manning posts on the Bridge, with Jevor in the command chair, and a strange looking woman seated next to him. The woman seemed to be both there and not there at the same time. Jevor rose and turned to great his shipmates as they strode around towards the front of the Bridge.
As Jevor was about to welcome them back, the group stopped almost in unison and let out a collective gasp, staring at the semi-opaque form of Falinn Ehlara. "As you can see, I had help in all this," Jevor stated dryly.
The emotion of the moment, compounded with the strain of the last several days, was too much for Reiv, and he wept openly, unabashed as he took a slow step forward, one hand raised to touch the hand of Ehlara who had risen from her seat next to Jevor to greet her love. Neither of them spoke, but the volume of love that they shared was clearly evident on their faces and in their eyes.
Jevor thought back to when he had met Ehlara and had seen the two of them together, and how their public displays of affection had turned his stomach. Perhaps it was due to his own recent experiences, but their display now touched him as much as the rest of the Bridge crew.
The crew itself all seemed frozen somehow, as though fearing that if they were to move the slightest inch, Ehlara would disappear; all, that is, except Lieutenant Ivanovna, who quietly released her tricorder from its attachment at her belt and began to scan the ghostly woman.
"Captain, I'm reading energy only; there is virtually no mass. The energy is a peculiar mix of patterns I've never seen before," Ivanovna reported.
"This may very well be a phenomenon we aren't supposed to figure out, Lieutenant," Freeman replied quietly. "Put away your tricorder."
"But . . ." Ivanovna started to object.
"It's alright Mark," Ehlara replied. "You're as curious about me as in a way I am about myself. As it is however, my time here is coming to an end. I would very much appreciate it if you could see me safely to the lands of my family on Bajor."
Freeman frowned. "I'm not sure that's possible; Starfleet Command has given me orders for our next assignment, and they take us in the opposite direction," he told her.
"Captain!" Reiv snapped.
Before Reiv continue continue his outburst, Jevor stepped in and held up one hand. "Captain, I believe I have a solution to all of this."
Freeman smiled at him, "Don't keep us in suspense Commander."
"I would like to request an extended leave of absence sir," he told his Captain. It wasn't really his intent to bring this up in front of everyone, but something urged him on. He dared not consider what that might've been.
Freeman's smile faded and he blinked at him. "Commander, this is hardly the time to be discussing this," he reproved, his eyes narrowing.
"It is, actually. We could take a shuttle and drop Ehlara off at Bajor and me off at Andor. Reiv could pilot it, and you could put my leave as a reason in your report," Jevor suggested.
"Perhaps we should discuss this in my Ready Room, Commander," Freeman suggested shortly as he made a move to exit the Bridge.
Jevor shook his head and Freeman stopped short. "These are all my friends here, Captain, and I have nothing to hide from them," Jevor replied.
"Very well then. If you don't mind my asking, why do you need leave again already?" Freeman asked. "You were just with your family."
"And with my family is where I belong. They need me."
"We need you here as well," Freeman said.
"They need me more than you do sir," Jevor replied matter-of-factly.
Freeman brooded for a moment and glanced over at his First Officer who nodded her assent. "Very well Commander. How long would you be gone?"
"A very long time," Jevor said quietly, shifting his gaze momentarily to the floor, before looking his Captain in the eye again.
Freeman was silent for a moment while the others looked on. "You're entitled to the leave you've earned without detriment to your standing with Starfleet, that much is certain. I'll have to contact Admiral Lowery regarding unlimited leave; you may be required to resign your commission you know," Freeman told him, as he tried to keep his voice level.
"I'm prepared for that sir," Jevor replied.
"You're sure about this Commander?" Freeman asked earnestly. "Perhaps you need some more time to think this through."
Jevor held up both hands in front of him. "I've thought of nothing else for days, Captain. I know now what must be done," he replied, pausing. "My hope sir, is that I can leave my position on this ship with your blessing."
Freeman smiled at his Chief of Engineering. "You have my blessing my friend," he said simply, clasping forearms with Jevor in a sign of friendship and support.
***
Before the departure of Jevor and the others, the funerals for Doctor Giovanni and the rest were held aboard the Bristol as she streaked towards her next assignment. The funerals were somber affairs; appropriate settings for each were generated in the ship's holodecks.
The service for Doctor Giovanni generated the largest outpouring of support from amongst the crew; everyone had interacted with her at least once, and those members of the crew that had been with the ship since its initial launching had come to rely on her careful ministrations at some time or another. She was widely known and respected, and widely liked, even if her hyperactivity and quirky sense of humor would occasionally get on their nerves. There were many speakers at her funeral, far more than at that of the others. Lieutenant Ivanovna was amongst them, and she reiterated the same feelings she'd shared with Yilaan back on the Klingon ship; that Giovanni died an honorable death and how she and many others could point to different times where their lives had been saved by her.
Though Ivanovna wasn't known as a moving orator, at the end of her monologue there was scarcely a dry eye in the house. The proceedings came to a close shortly afterward and the crew filed out alone or in small groups.
Lieutenant Ivanovna and a few others went to Deck Nine, Port, after the ceremonies and sat thinking, brooding over their drinks. Many of their faces were tear stained, and all of their expressions were melancholy.
After a few moments Commander Yilaan approached Ivanovna, who was seated alone at a small table which looked out on the stars. "May I join you Katrina?" Yilaan asked; Ivanovna nodded mutely and Yilaan took a seat next to her. The two of them sat quietly for awhile until Yilaan again broke the silence. "A slip of latinum for your thoughts," Yilaan said, forcing a small smile.
"I was just thinking, Commander, that's all," Ivanovna replied, shifting her gaze to Yilaan. "I never really took the time to get to know Doctor Giovanni. I was turned away by her flightiness and I never really took her seriously. Sure she was an excellent physician, and I respected her for that, but there was much more to her wasn't there? I think I caught a glimpse of that other part of her there in the Starbase's Sickbay, and I wish I'd taken the time to see through her . . . well through her quirky behavioral traits. Now that opportunity is forever gone and I regret it." Ivanovna sighed, and the two officers stared mutely at the stars.
***
That afternoon the Captain and Chief Engineer were seated next to each other in the Observation Lounge, with Commander Yilaan on the other side. Admiral Lowery of Starfleet Command, a middle aged Vulcan male, was on the viewer and Jevor had been explaining his request for an extended leave of absence.
"I must admit parts of your explanation defy logic, Commander Jevor," Lowery responded after Jevor had finished his monologue. "However, if your Captain is willing to release you from your duties, you may retire honorably from the service, leaving the possibility of reinstatement intact. You should be advised that Captain Freeman will be finding a replacement for you and that you should in no way expect your current post, or one necessarily commensurate with the station you've earned, should you return." The Vulcan kept his voice even throughout, though a twinge or two in the last sentence indicated the finality of the situation, should Jevor still choose to leave.
"I understand, and I thank you for your generosity in this matter, Admiral," Jevor replied.
"Live long and prosper Commander," Lowery replied simply, before turning his attention to Freeman. "Captain, there will be a slight change in orders for you and the Bristol. Your plan to dispatch a shuttle to drop off Jevor at Andora is fine. In addition, the Bristol now needs to divert to Starbase 38," he continued, punching a couple of buttons on a portable document holder. "You will receive replacement personnel, including a new Chief Medical Officer and Chief of Engineering, at that time. I realize it would be preferable to promote from within your ranks; do you feel that any of the junior officers are ready to take over for your two senior staff members?"
"Commander Yilaan and I feel that the skills and experience of Lieutenant Andy Perriman in Engineering would allow him to adequately fill the role of Chief Engineer. Commander Jevor concurs with this assessment as well," Freeman reported as Yilaan and Jevor both wordless nodded their agreement.
"Very well then. Other replacement personnel will still await you on Starbase 38. Lowery out." The image of the Admiral faded from the viewer.
***
The next morning preparations were made for the departure of Jevor and Ehlara. As expected, Reiv was assigned to pilot their shuttle. While Ehlara merely transferred her energy to the Shuttle Bay with little fanfare, the preparations for Jevor's departure were a little more grandiose.
As Jevor left his quarters with a case at his side containing his few meager belongings, he was greeted by the long-standing Starfleet tradition for departing officers; a gauntlet of his fellow shipmates awaited him, lining the halls and corridors from his quarters to the Shuttle Bay. Commander Jevor walked slowly, smiling and nodding at those amongst them that he knew personally, drinking in the image of their faces as a man would if he knew he would never see those people again.
At last Jevor arrived at the main Shuttle Bay, where the senior officers of the Bristol awaited him. Hugs, firm handshakes, and warm wishes were exchanged between him and Yilaan, Ivanovna, and the others. The newly promoted Lieutenant Commander Perriman was also there, and his eyes looked a little wild as he bid his former commanding officer good-bye.
"Permission to disembark sir," Jevor said upon reaching the last of them, Captain Freeman.
"Permission granted. Good luck Belan Jevor," Freeman replied.
Not one for excessively long good-byes, Jevor didn't linger in the Bay after he'd made his rounds to each of his friends, but rather stepped quickly into the shuttle and forced himself to not look back. Attention then shifted to the semi-opaque shadow of Falinn Ehlara.
"Commander I can't thank you enough for the assistance you've provided to us," Freeman told her. "I've read the report that Commander Jevor compiled for me regarding your activities, and it explained quite a bit."
Ehlara smiled. "It was my pleasure Captain, but not entirely my idea. The Prophets have had a hand in this; to what end I cannot even begin to guess, nor is it my place to do so. I predict, however, that Bajor and the Federation may soon begin a long era of mutual friendship and cooperation."
"With the recent peace treaty with the Cardassians and their abandonment of your planet and the orbiting space station, perhaps this has already started," Freeman suggested.
"Indeed," she replied simply. Ehlara nodded to the other officers and entered the shuttle.
Reiv looked on, watching Ehlara enter the shuttle, before turning back to face his commanding officer. "Thank you Captain," he said simply.
"Get them home safe, Lieutenant," Freeman said by way of a farewell.
Reiv nodded and smiled, "As you say sir." Reiv then entered the shuttle and closed the door behind him.
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